I know this opinion is wildly unpopular, but I think pirating is unethical. If you can’t afford something, or you disagree with spending money for it, then fine. Don’t watch that show/listen to that song/play that game. But the people who make things deserve to get paid. It’s not right to refuse to pay for something while also consuming that content. Many of the justifications for pirating just feel like entitlement to me.
I agree in 98% of cases. There are some cases (and this is splitting hairs so i apologize) where i’m fine with it. I think preservation for some near lost media that hasn’t been purchasable for a long time (and maybe is tied to 30-40 year old hardware that isn’t supported or buyable from the producing company anymore) i think is an exception i’m willing to make. This is particularly prevalent to older games that are tied to long defunct devices that aren’t supported anymore like very old dos games.
But I’m also of the opinion those things shouldn’t have to be “pirated” in the first place and if you haven’t offered the ability to acquire it legally in decades it should fall into public domain.
But at the same time, deflating the sales of the product has the risk of prompting the company to not continue with a franchise or employ those developers in the future.
I know this opinion is wildly unpopular, but I think pirating is unethical. If you can’t afford something, or you disagree with spending money for it, then fine. Don’t watch that show/listen to that song/play that game. But the people who make things deserve to get paid. It’s not right to refuse to pay for something while also consuming that content. Many of the justifications for pirating just feel like entitlement to me.
I agree in 98% of cases. There are some cases (and this is splitting hairs so i apologize) where i’m fine with it. I think preservation for some near lost media that hasn’t been purchasable for a long time (and maybe is tied to 30-40 year old hardware that isn’t supported or buyable from the producing company anymore) i think is an exception i’m willing to make. This is particularly prevalent to older games that are tied to long defunct devices that aren’t supported anymore like very old dos games.
But I’m also of the opinion those things shouldn’t have to be “pirated” in the first place and if you haven’t offered the ability to acquire it legally in decades it should fall into public domain.
Devs don’t get paid less just because I pirated a game I would never have bought otherwise
But at the same time, deflating the sales of the product has the risk of prompting the company to not continue with a franchise or employ those developers in the future.